U.S. patent application number 12/516027 was filed with the patent office on 2010-02-25 for intrinsic flux sensing.
This patent application is currently assigned to KONINKLIJKE PHILIPS ELECTRONICS N.V.. Invention is credited to Christoph Martiny, Volkmar Schulz, Matthias Wendt.
Application Number | 20100045478 12/516027 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 39358028 |
Filed Date | 2010-02-25 |
United States Patent
Application |
20100045478 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Schulz; Volkmar ; et
al. |
February 25, 2010 |
INTRINSIC FLUX SENSING
Abstract
According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a
lighting system for communication with a remote control device is
provided, which comprises a light emitting element adapted for
emitting modulated light to the remote control and for detecting
control signals from the remote control. This may provide for a
communication between the remote control and the lighting system
without the need of an extra sensor or an extra transmitter.
Inventors: |
Schulz; Volkmar; (Wuerselen,
DE) ; Wendt; Matthias; (Wuerselen, DE) ;
Martiny; Christoph; (Aachen, DE) |
Correspondence
Address: |
PHILIPS INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY & STANDARDS
P.O. BOX 3001
BRIARCLIFF MANOR
NY
10510
US
|
Assignee: |
KONINKLIJKE PHILIPS ELECTRONICS
N.V.
Eindhoven
NL
|
Family ID: |
39358028 |
Appl. No.: |
12/516027 |
Filed: |
November 27, 2007 |
PCT Filed: |
November 27, 2007 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/IB2007/054801 |
371 Date: |
May 22, 2009 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
340/12.22 ;
315/185R; 315/363; 372/38.1; 398/112 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H05B 45/12 20200101;
H04B 10/43 20130101; H04B 10/1149 20130101; H05B 45/10 20200101;
H04B 10/1143 20130101; H05B 47/19 20200101; H04B 10/116
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
340/825.69 ;
315/363; 372/38.1; 315/185.R; 398/112 |
International
Class: |
G08C 19/00 20060101
G08C019/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Nov 30, 2006 |
EP |
06125104.7 |
Claims
1. Lighting system controllable by a remote control device, the
lighting system comprising: a light emitting element configured to
emit light in an emission mode and detect a control signal from the
remote control device in a detection mode; a switching element for
switching the light emitting element between the detection mode and
the emission mode; and a transmission unit for emitting a
communication signal to the remote control device.
2. The lighting system of claim 1, wherein the light emitting
element comprises the transmission unit.
3. The lighting system of claim 1, wherein the communication signal
comprises information relating to a working condition of the light
emitting element.
4. The lighting system of claim 1, wherein the communication signal
comprises information related to at least one attribute of the
light emitting element selected from the group consisting of static
colour point information, dynamic colour point information, a
dimmer control signal, a start signal, a stop signal, an
identification signal, a use-pattern signal, and power consumption
rate.
5. The lighting system of claim 1, wherein the control signal
comprises data for setting at least one attribute of the light
emitting element selected from the group consisting of static
colour point information, dynamic colour point information, a
dimmer control signal, a start signal, a stop signal, a lamp
identification signal and the maximum allowed power consumption
rate.
6. The lighting system of claim 1, wherein the lighting system
further comprises a modulation unit adapted for modulating the
communication signal according to a modulation scheme.
7. The lighting system of claim 6, wherein the modulation scheme is
selected from the group consisting of: pulse width modulation,
pulse position modulation, pulse amplitude modulation, and pulse
density modulation.
8. The lighting system of claim 1, wherein the transmission unit
comprises a radio frequency transmitter module.
9. The lighting system of claim 1, wherein the light emitting
element comprises at least one light emitting diode or a laser
device.
10. The lighting system of claim 1, wherein the light emitting
element comprises at least one string of serially-connected light
emitting diodes or laser devices.
11. The lighting system of claim 1, further comprising: an
amplifier; and a driving circuit; wherein the switching element is
a transmit-/receive-switch for disconnecting the light emitting
element from the driving circuit and a connecting the light
emitting element to the amplifier.
12. Communication and switching circuit for a remotely controllable
lighting system comprising a light emitting element configured to
emit light in an emission mode and detect a control signal from a
remote control device in a detection mode;, the communication and
switching circuit configured for generating a communication signal
for a remote control device and comprising: a switching element for
switching the light emitting element between the detection mode and
the emission mode; a driving circuit for driving the light emitting
element such that the light emitting element emits light when in
the emission mode; and a sampling circuit for sampling of the
control signal detected by the light emitting element when in the
detection mode.
13. The communication and switching circuit of claim 12, wherein
the sampling circuit comprises an amplifier and an
analog-to-digital converter.
14. The communication and switching circuit of claim 12, further
comprising a processor and a pulse-pattern generator for generating
the communication signal.
15. Method for communication between a lighting system, comprising
a light emitting element, and a remote control device, the method
comprising the steps of: emitting light by the light emitting
element; switching the light emitting element from an emission mode
to a detection mode; detecting a control signal from the remote
control device by the light emitting element; and emitting a
communication signal to the remote control device.
16-19. (canceled)
Description
[0001] The invention relates to the field of lighting systems. In
particular, the invention relates to a lighting system for
communication with a remote control device, a communication and
switching circuit for a lighting system, a remote control device, a
method for communication of a lighting system with a remote control
device, a computer-readable medium, a processor and a program
element.
[0002] In order to design a lamp that is able to produce a wide
range of colours, light emitting diodes (LEDs) with different
colours may be used. These LEDs define an area in the CIE
xy-colour-space, which shows the colour that can be realized by the
weighted linear combination of these LEDs, which are for example
red, green and blue LEDs.
[0003] In high-power and high quality LED lamps phosphor-ceramics
colour conversion may be a good way for generating the different
required colours. However, a simple on/off switch for these devices
may not allow the use of all possibilities in these lamps. A remote
control may be used for remote controlling of such a
multi-colour-LED-lamp. However, in order to detect the control
signal from the remote control device, a sensor may have to be
implemented into the lighting system. On the other hand such a
detector or sensor may not provide bidirectional communication
between the lighting system and the remote control device.
[0004] It may be desirable to provide for an improved communication
between a lighting system and a remote control device.
[0005] The invention provides a lighting system for communication
with a remote control device, a communication and switching circuit
for a lighting system, a method for communication of a lighting
system with a remote control device, a processor, a
computer-readable medium, a remote control device and a program
element with the features according to the independent claims.
[0006] According to a first aspect of the present invention, a
lighting system for communication with a remote control device is
provided, the lighting system comprising a light emitting element
and a switching element for switching the light emitting element
between a detection mode and an emission mode, wherein, when being
in the emission mode, the light emitting element is adapted for
emitting light. Furthermore, when being in the detection mode, the
light emitting element is adapted for detecting a control signal
from a remote control device. Furthermore, the lighting system is
adapted for emitting a communication signal to the remote control
device.
[0007] In other words, the lighting system may be switched between
an illumination or emission mode and a detection mode. When being
switched to the illumination mode, the lighting system may be used
for illuminating its surrounding or for transmitting a
communication signal. On the other hand, when being switched to the
detection mode, the lighting system may be used for detecting a
control signal transmitted from the remote control device. The
detection of the control signal is performed by the light emitting
element itself. An extra sensor or detector is thus not
necessary.
[0008] According to an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the
light emitting element is adapted for emitting the communication
signal to the remote control device. The communication signal may
comprise information relating to a working condition of the light
emitting element.
[0009] Therefore, the light emitting element itself may transmit
data to the remote control device. The data relates to, for
example, static colour point information, or dynamic colour point
information of the light which is emitted by the light emitting
element.
[0010] Furthermore, the communication signal may, according to
another exemplary embodiment of the invention, comprise information
about the status of the lamp selected from the group consisting of
a dimmer control, a starting point (or switch on time), a stopping
point (or switch off time), lamp identification, a use-pattern,
lamp diagnosis data, and power consumption.
[0011] The use-pattern may comprise the on/off-time of the lamp or
information about a preferred colour at a certain time.
[0012] According to another exemplary embodiment of the present
invention, the control signal comprises items to program the
lighting system selected from the group consisting of static colour
point information, dynamic colour point information, a dimmer
control signal, a start signal, a stop signal, a lamp
identification signal and the maximum allowed power consumption of
the lamp system.
[0013] In other words, the current working condition may be
transmitted to the remote control device via the communication
signal from the light emitting element. On the other hand, a
working condition which has to be met may be transmitted from the
remote control device to the light emitting element and therefore
to the lighting system. In a following step, this (future) working
condition may be set up by the lighting system.
[0014] The start signal and the stop signal for example comprise
time stamp information for start and stop of a dynamic colour point
sequence, respectively. The dynamic colour point information may be
adapted for controlling or triggering an individual illumination
sequence of the lighting system.
[0015] According to another exemplary embodiment of the present
invention, the lighting system further comprises a modulation unit
adapted for modulating the communication signal according to a
modulation scheme.
[0016] Therefore, a fast and effective data transmission may be
provided from a lighting system to the remote control device.
[0017] According to another exemplary embodiment of the present
invention, a modulation scheme is selected from the group
consisting of pulse width modulation, pulse position modulation,
pulse amplitude modulation or pulse density modulation.
[0018] According to another exemplary embodiment of the present
invention, the lighting system further comprises a transmission
unit for emitting the communication signal to the remote control
device, wherein the transmission unit comprises a radio frequency
transmitter module.
[0019] Thus, according to this exemplary embodiment of the present
invention, the communication from the lighting system to the remote
control device may be performed by an RF downlink. Thus, in case
the optical path between the lighting system and the remote control
is blocked, communication may still be possible. Furthermore, by
transmitting the communication signal via an RF-module,
communication by the RF-module and simultaneous illumination by the
light emitting element may be provided.
[0020] According to another exemplary embodiment of the present
invention, the light emitting element is a light emitting diode
(LED).
[0021] According to another exemplary embodiment of the present
invention, the light emitting element comprises one string or
several strings of light emitting diodes or a combination of one or
several LED string with one or several individual LEDs.
Furthermore, the light emitting element may comprise a whole
two-dimensional array of light emitting diodes.
[0022] According to another exemplary embodiment of the present
invention, the lighting system further comprises an amplifier and a
driving circuit, wherein the switching element is a Tx/Rx-switch
adapted for providing a disconnection of the light emitting element
from the driving circuit and a connection to the amplifier.
[0023] The expression Tx/Rx-switch is a short form for
"transmitt-receive-switch".
[0024] According to another aspect of the present invention, a
communication and switching circuit for a lighting system is
provided, the communication and switching circuit comprising a
switching element for switching a light emitting element between a
detection mode and an emission mode, a driving circuit for driving
the light emitting element such that the light emitting element
emits light when being in the emission mode, a sampling circuit for
providing a fast sampling of a control signal detected by the light
emitting element when being in the detection mode, wherein the
communication and switching circuit is adapted for generating a
communication signal for a remote control device.
[0025] In other words, a communication and switching circuit for a
lighting system may be provided, which is adapted for driving a LED
for illuminating the surrounding. Furthermore, the circuit is
adapted for switching the LED into a detection mode, in which the
LED is used for detecting a signal from a remote control device.
Therefore, no extra sensor or detector may be necessary for
acquisition of the control signal. Furthermore, no extra
transmitter for generating a signal which is then transmitted to
the remote control device may be necessary.
[0026] According to another exemplary embodiment of the present
invention, the sampling circuit comprises an amplifier and an
analog-to-digital converter.
[0027] Furthermore, the communication and switching circuit
comprises a processor and a pulse-pattern generator for generating
the communication signal.
[0028] According to another aspect of the present invention, a
method for communication of a lighting system with a remote control
device is provided, the method comprising the steps of emitting
light by a light emitting element, switching the light emitting
element from an emission mode to a detection mode, detecting a
control signal from a remote control device by the light emitting
element and emitting a communication signal to the remote control
device.
[0029] Furthermore, according to another exemplary embodiment of
the present invention, a computer-readable medium is provided, in
which a computer program for communicating with a remote control
device is stored which, when being executed by a processor, causes
the processor to carry out the above-mentioned method steps.
[0030] Furthermore, according to another exemplary embodiment of
the present invention, a program element for communicating with a
remote control device is provided which, when being executed by a
processor, causes the processor to carry out the above-mentioned
method steps.
[0031] Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the
method for communication may be embodied as the computer program,
i.e. by software, or may be embodied using one or more special
electronic optimization circuits, i.e. in hardware, or the method
may be embodied in hybrid form, i.e. by means of software
components and hardware components.
[0032] The program element according to an embodiment of the
invention is preferably loaded into working memories of a data
processor. The data processor may thus be equipped to carry out
embodiments of the methods of the present invention. The computer
program may be written in any suitable programming language, such
as, for example, C++ and may be stored on a computer-readable
medium, such as a CD-ROM. Also, the computer program may be
available from a network, such as the WorldWideWeb, from which it
may be downloaded into processing units or processors, or any
suitable computers.
[0033] Furthermore, according to another exemplary embodiment of
the present invention, a remote control device for communication
with a lighting system is provided, the remote control device
comprising a transmitter for emitting a control signal to a
lighting system, and a receiver for detecting a communication
signal from the lighting system.
[0034] It may be seen as the gist of an exemplary embodiment of the
present invention that LEDs in a lighting system are used both as
photo-sensors for detecting control signals from a remote control
(uplink) and as sources for the emission of modulated light to the
remote control (downlink) and for illumination. Therefore, a
communication between the remote control device and the lighting
system may be provided without the need of an extra sensor or an
extra transmitter (in the lamp).
[0035] This may provide for a remote control technique for a
multi-primary-LED-lamp in which the information exchange between
the LED-lamp and the remote control is performed using special
current and thus light modulation schemes to perform the up- and
downlink to and from the device to the remote control. For the
reception of commands from the remote control, the LEDs are used as
photodiode (intrinsic flux sensing).
[0036] Thus, no special sensors are required to perform the up- and
downlink. A special circuit may be provided that allows to switch
the LEDs into a receive mode in a very rapid way. Therefore, the
communication and switching circuit may be used for phosphor
converted LEDs as well as for conventional LEDs.
[0037] These and other aspects of the present invention will become
apparent from and elucidated with reference to the embodiments
described hereinafter.
[0038] Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be
described in the following, with reference to the following
drawings.
[0039] FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of the building
blocks of a lighting system according to an exemplary embodiment of
the present invention.
[0040] FIG. 2 shows a schematic representation of the building
blocks of a lighting system according to another exemplary
embodiment of the present invention.
[0041] FIG. 3 shows a flow-chart according to a method according to
an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
[0042] The illustration in the drawings is schematic. In different
drawings, similar or identical elements are provided with the same
reference numerals.
[0043] FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of a lighting system
100, comprising a LED 102 or an LED-string or LED-array 102, 113,
114, 115. The lighting system 100 depicted in FIG. 1 comprises a
plurality of channels for different colours or LEDs. In the
following, only one channel is described.
[0044] The red LED 102 (or string of several LEDs) is connected to
an Tx/Rx-switch 103 which allows a disconnection from the driver
circuit 106, 107, 108 and a connection to the amplifier 104, which
is for example a transimpedance amplifier.
[0045] The output 117 of the amplifier 104 is connected to an
analog-to-digital converter (ADC) 105 that provides for a very fast
sampling of the amplified photo-signal 117.
[0046] The digital photo-signal 118 is transmitted to a central
processing unit (CPU) 107 or digital signal processing unit (DSP)
107, that may allow to do a colour control, which is for example
triggered by the remote control, and the remote control signal
extraction.
[0047] The CPU 107 is controlling the brightness and the
transmission of information via a pulse-pattern generator 106. The
output 119 of the pulse-pattern generator 106 is connected to the
driver 108 and then (via switch 103) to the LED 102 or to the whole
LED-string 102, 113, 114, 115.
[0048] Furthermore, an optical element 116 may be arranged in front
of the LED-string 102, 113, 114, 115, which may be adapted for
filtering or focusing the emitted light or the signal from the
remote control 101.
[0049] The remote control device 101 is adapted for transmitting a
control signal 120 towards the LED-string. After passing the
optical element 116, one of the LEDs, for example LED 102, detects
the signal 120 from the remote control 101 and transmits the
resulting detection signal to the switch 103 via a transmission
line 121. The detected signal is then amplified by amplifier 104
and digitized by the analog-to-digital converter 105, after which
it is transmitted to the CPU 107.
[0050] Other LEDs, for example LED 115, may be connected to another
switch 111 and another amplifier 110 for amplification of a
detection signal detected by LED 115. Furthermore, the second
switch 111 may be connected to a second amplifier 109 connected to
the pulse-pattern generator 106.
[0051] The LEDs 102, 113, 114, 115 are used as photo-sensors for
the uplink, i.e. the channel from the remote control device 101 to
the lighting system 100, in order to perform a device selection, an
activation or deactivation of the lighting system, or to perform a
transmission of other control data from the remote control 101 to
the lighting system 100.
[0052] Furthermore, the modulated light (or radio frequency signal
as depicted in FIG. 2) is used for the downlink, i.e. the signal
transmission from the lighting system to the remote control
101.
[0053] Therefore, the current working condition may be transmitted
to the remote control 101 by a downlink communication signal. The
signal may then be used for programming or controlling a further
lighting system. The communication signal may comprise static and
dynamic colour point information. It should be noted in this
context, that dynamic means complex dependency on a time.
Furthermore, the communication signal may comprise dimmer or switch
control information.
[0054] The communication signal may further comprise a network
item, which is a lamp identification signal, useful for example
when several lamps are present in an installation and when all
lamps should be controlled by the same remote control. In this
case, about a plurality of lighting systems may be grouped to a
lamp network.
[0055] Furthermore, the communication signal may comprise
start-/stop information of local scenes, e.g. local dynamic
patterns, attendance simulation, etc.
[0056] Furthermore, the communication may comprise a
lamp-identification number or use-patterns, like on/off-time or the
preferred colour at a certain time.
[0057] The lighting system may be applied in connection with
phosphor-converted LEDs (pcLEDs) or conventional LEDs, such as GaN
LEDs or AlGaAs LEDs.
[0058] FIG. 2 shows a schematic representation of a lighting system
according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
The lighting system 200 of FIG. 2 comprises a radio frequency
module 201 having an antenna 202. The RF-module 201 is adapted for
transmitting and/or receiving electromagnetic waves 203 to the
remote control device 101. The electromagnetic waves 203 may
comprise the communication signal for the remote control 101.
[0059] The essential difference of the setup depicted in FIG. 2
with respect to the setup depicted in FIG. 1 is that the downlink
(from the lighting system to the remote control 101) may be
provided by the RF-module 201. Thus, the CPU 107 is connected to
the RF-module 201, which are adapted for generating communication
signals on the basis of ZigBee or WLAN in order to communicate with
the remote control 101 or with a control station between the remote
control and the lighting system 100.
[0060] It should be noted however, that the lighting system may
comprise both, the RF-module 201 and the pulse-pattern generator
106. Thus, the communication signal may be transmitted by both the
LEDs and the RF-module, thereby providing for a redundancy.
[0061] FIG. 3 shows a flow-chart of an exemplary method according
to the present invention. The method starts at step 1 with the
emission of light by a light emitting element. Then, in step 2, the
light emitting element is switched from an emission mode to a
detection mode by a switching element. At step 3, a control signal,
which is transmitted from a remote control device, is detected by
the light emitting element. In step 4, the detected signal is
transferred to a central processing unit, where it is analyzed. The
central processing unit then generates, together with a
pulse-pattern generator, a corresponding driving signal for the
light emitting element. In a fourth step, a communication signal is
generated by the CPU together with the pulse-pattern generator and
emitted by the light emitting element towards the remote control.
The communication signal corresponds, for example, to the current
working condition of the light emitting element and may comprise an
identification number of the light emitting element.
[0062] The invention may be applied for remote controlling of
general lighting, for communication between light units (optical
long range link), for a touch-pad replacement for displays with LED
backlighting, for optical proximity sensors and for automotive
applications, such as light keys.
[0063] It should be noted that the term "comprising" does not
exclude other elements or steps and the "a" or "an" does not
exclude a plurality. Also elements described in association with
different embodiments may be combined.
[0064] It should also be noted that reference signs in the claims
shall not be construed as limiting the scope of the claims.
* * * * *